Dragon's Dogma: Xavia's Song
by TamaraWolf
Summary: All her life, Xavia had to chose between fight, and possibly die, or run and live. She had always ran, but just this once, she chose to fight, and hope to live another day. Breaking an unending cycle is never easy, rather it's running away from your problems or the end of a kingdom.
1. Xavia

_"Father!"_ The dream came to a sudden end as Xavia reached out for him and she awoke, breathing heavily on her small bed.

Xavia closed her eyes once more, hoping for more sleep. But first, as always, she reminded herself: she was safe, here in Cassardis. It was an ordinary day, and what she had experienced was merely a bad dream. _It was just a dream. Calm down._ The red-haired fisher opened her sea green eyes once more with a groan after a few minutes. Her heart wouldn't stop pounding, and it meant one thing- she wasn't going to be able to sleep anytime soon. Grumbling slightly to herself, she got out of bed and put on relatively clean clothes before heading out.

Xavia lived around the corner from the inn, and it made things lively. She almost tripped over two children running by, who were likely no older than seven years. Despite her bad mood, she smiled- even though it was so early, the two always had energy to play. In the background, Xavia could hear some soldiers shouting about recruiting for the army... and something about a dragon? She never paid much attention to them, and as a rule, avoided soldiers. They were always trouble with her before. However, she pressed on, heading towards the boats. She had a job to do, after all, and while being a fisher wasn't the most profitable work, she didn't think that she'd trade it for anything. _It's an ordinary day_. She reminded herself, pushing away a strange sense of trepidation that she felt.

Of course, ordinary days tend to not stay that way...

It all started with a large gust of wind, causing a few women to shout as the wind ripped at clothes and hair. Xavia was looking around, though. It had been too quick, too sudden, and too powerful to be normal... unless it was a storm... but there were no signs in the sky of a storm. She scanned the bright blue sky. Not a cloud was in sight, but after a minute, she saw a streak of red heading straight for them.

"It's... it's the dragon!"

Panic erupted in the streets. Villagers began to scream and run in different directions, with only one thing in common- it was away from the beach. Xavia stood, frozen in place, as the beast landed, releasing a gout of flame on anything that moved. Soon, the smell of burning wood and flesh filled the once peaceful and productive beach, and Xavia felt someone shaking her shoulder. "Xavi!"

She soon saw Quina and her expression, worry and fear mixed together, and something moved in Xavia. She looked from her old friend, to the red-scaled beast that was currently slaughtering innocents.

"Xavi, we have to go!"

 _There's nowhere else_ _ **to**_ _go._ Xavia thought. They couldn't outrun a dragon... she looked around. Not everyone seemed to get that. Some villagers were being so foolish as to hide in their homes, but it wasn't until she saw a soldier run, dropping his blade in the process, that she became truly angry. _**This**_ _was the kingdom's protection? Terrified men that scream and hide? Even I can do better than that._ She looked up at the dragon once more. It didn't seem particularly interested in chasing those running, unless they were already nearby. "Run to the well. I bet you'd be safe in there." She told her friend.

Then, without thinking, she ran, scooping up the sword of the escaped soldier. _If I die, at least I won't die a coward._

Xavia ran, blade in hand, slashing at the dragon's front leg, but the sword practically bounced off its scales, and the dragon, almost lazily, swiped in return, sending her flying into sand and water. Xavia cried out as she landed on her side, rolling over on her back. The sky was soon eclipsed by the dragon's snout. _I am_ _ **not**_ _going to die like this!_ Stubbornly, she tried to get up, but her arms and legs felt like lead, weighing her down so she was unable to move.

But then the dragon... spoke. It wasn't something Xavia understood, but almost felt, although she couldn't make sense of it right away. It spoke in a language that wasn't her own, and Xavia still felt that there was a serious meaning to his words as his- for surely, the dragon was a he for some reason- claw descended.

Then, all she knew was pain.


	2. Leaving

Xavia awoke to darkness and whimpering. Her eyes shot open, and she realized that she was in a house, staring up at a ceiling. _Wait... that's not right._ She frowned as she sat up, still in some pain- but now that she thought of it, not nearly as much pain as she should be feeling. _What happened?_ Xavia frowned, touching her temple gingerly as she tried to remember. _The dragon knocked me down... and spoke... what did it say?_ She couldn't help but think it was important. Maybe more important than anything else. She looked down, trying to focus, and noticed something else- her shirt torn open and bloodied, revealing a large, white scar down her chest, as if from a very old wound that had long healed. _That's impossible._ She thought in shock, reaching down and gingerly touch it.

She only touched the scar with her fingertips, but it was enough- searing, white-hot light seemed to blind her.

"If you would face me-" With a gasp, Xavia yanked her hand away. The light vanished, and the voice disappeared, as if it had never spoke. She looked around the room, suspicious. There were many other injured people in the room, but they all seemed to be asleep, unconscious, or... _something else._ She forced herself to avoid thinking some of these as mere bodies now. She glanced down at the scar again, and after taking a deep breath, placed her hand on top of it again.

"If you would face me..." It was a male's voice, clear yet rough, as if from being unused. "...Take up arms, newly Arisen."

Xavia frowned. _What does that even mean? Newly Arisen?_ She didn't want to think of it. She just wanted to go home, and pretend that it had never happened. That it was an ordinary day. It wasn't, but she wanted to pretend, even if just for a bit. As she looked around the room, she saw a table, new clothes and old weapons laying on it. _No... I don't want to do this._ Xavia had always taken the easy way out, avoiding big confrontations, but there was a dragon on the loose, and no one was doing anything about it! Once again, her body moved, as if of it's own will, and she was standing in front of the table, looking over the various weapons there. There was an old iron staff, and as Xavia ran her hand along it, she realized that it was probably Quina's. She remembered that her old childhood friend had always been practicing magic when she was younger, healing Xavia when she returned from particularly bad 'trips' with her father. _Does she still practice?_ Xavia wondered, then decided to leave the staff... just in case. There was a sword and shield, but those were so heavy, and hard to carry. They were out of the question. She then found a pair of daggers, old and rusted from years of neglect. However, under those rusty stains, they were fine weapons, still strong and sharp. With a sigh, Xavia took the change of clothes first, changing out of her bloody and tattered shirt, then finding a belt and attaching the daggers to it. Next, she picked up a quiver of arrows and slung it over her back, then the old bow that was leaning against the table there, as if waiting patiently for it's next hunt.

 _Well, I'm armed... now what? Should I just leave and see what happens?_ Xavia guessed the next step was to find the dragon. _Or help the army?_ She walked toward the doorway, about to push the curtain out of the way before she heard a voice.

"You say it left a glowing scar?" It was Adaro's voice, suspicious and worried. He was Quina's father, and a kind man... if a little old-fashioned at times.

"Yes..." Quina. Xavia held her breath as her old friend spoke. "The wound has closed, and it seems that the worst has passed, but... her heart lies silent."

Xavia instinctively rested her hand against the scar again. "If you would face me-" This time, in addition to the words, she saw the dragon hovering over her again- felt the searing pain in her chest as his claw punctured her like paper again, and saw her still-beating heart being taken. _Impossible. I can't-_

"Are you sure 'o this?" Xavia moved the curtian, peeking out just in time to see Quina's head bob in a short nod. "Ill magic... the work of some curse! The world's already gone mad for fear 'o the dragon... won't no good come of this!" Xavia shifted where she stood, uncomfortable. She couldn't just reveal herself now, if he thought she was cursed, what would he do? She looked over when she heard him sigh. "I must go see to the others, Quina." There was silence for a minute or two, then Xavia heard the door close.

Slowly, she came around the corner. Quina just turned from the door and jumped with a gasp, clearly startled to see Xavia. "You should be in bed!"

Xavia frowned and shook her head. "I feel fine..." She knew that Quina was ever the worrier, and would continue to be that person no matter what she did. She was kind, but maybe that was also a weakness of hers. "Look, Quina, I have to go."

Quina then took her in- really took her in, looking up and down. When she met Xavia's eyes, she could see the fear there. "You're leaving? With weapons? Xavi, you said-"

"I know what I said." Xavia lifted a hand, hoping that she'd stop fighting. She looked Quina in the eyes, hoping that she'd realize how serious she was. "But listen to what I'm saying now."

"But you can't-"

"I can, and I am." Xavia looked down at her childhood friend. She loved Quina like no one else, and while she wasn't sure about what kind of love exactly it was, she knew that she wasn't going to let Quina stop her. "I don't have any idea what I'm doing. Not yet." She didn't know how, or why, but she knew that she had to try. "If no one does anything about that dragon, we're dead, anyway."

Quina's face changed, going from afraid to as if she was talking to a stranger. "You're going to start fighting again? Xavi, you're going to get hurt, or killed. I _don't_ want to be a part of this."

"Then don't be." Xavia took a deep breath. "I'm not asking for help. Just don't get in my way or try to stop me. If you help is up to you, but frankly, I'd prefer it if you stayed here." She brushed past Quina. "I don't really care to watch more people die. If I can stop it, I will." She felt a pain in her chest that had nothing to do with the dragon. _I am not going to repeat past mistakes here._ There was a certainty this time, that she could do what others couldn't, although she had no idea why.

Despite that certainty, she would still rather go fishing.


End file.
